Every children’s pastor should be an evangelist. It’s great to minister to the children in your church, but what have you done to develop a children’s ministry that reaches out to unsaved children? Here’s a few ideas to make sure you are acting, not only as a pastor, but as an evangelist.
Altar Calls:
Altar calls in children’s church are an important way to give children an opportunity to respond to the message. Unfortunately some children’s pastors have decided end having altar calls. Here’s a link to an article by Jerry Moyer called Why I Still Have Altar Calls? It’s worth reading.
Salvation Sundays:
No matter how you decide to do it, you should have Sundays periodically that emphasis salvation. Advertise these Sunday’s to the children in your ministry as a day to invite their friends. Create excitement and have a special theme and special activities that only happen on these Sundays. Give a salvation message. Then do follow-up for the visitors who attended.
Outreach Events:
Some children’s pastors are also ending outreach events because they are costly and time-consuming. They’ve decided to focus on the children in the church. But Jesus didn’t focus on the people inside the church. He carried His message to everyone who would listen.
There are some children who will never come to your church on a Sunday morning. Some of them have circumstances, like unsaved parents who don’t think it’s important, that keep them from coming. But they will come to your special outreach events every time you have them. If your goal is only to get more children to come to your church, outreach events are not that effective. But if your goal is to share the Gospel to children who would otherwise never hear it, outreach events are worth the time and money spent.
Here’s some outreach events you could have:
Sidewalk Sunday School
Halleluiah Costume Carnival (Halloween)
Sport’s Ministries
Missions:
Having a good missions program in your children’s ministry is vital for evangelism in the church. Outreach and evangelism aren’t only for our neighborhood. We should be reaching the world for Christ.
Here’s some links to help you with your missions program:
Missions In Children’s Minsitry
Developing a Children’s Ministry Missions Program
Here’s a couple of ministries your children’s ministry could support:
Operation Kid Passion (Works with Operation Compassion)
Teach Children How To Share The Gospel
This will be the most effective thing you ever do as an evangelist. The children under you can reach children you will never be able to minister to. Give them the tools to share the Gospel. Teach them how. Practice with them. Then release them into ministry.